A New Loom

Sometimes you just need a new loom.  I have two floor looms that I love.  The Gilmore is an old friend, bought after she gave years of service to various weavers.  She is eight harness and 44" wide.  It's my happy place.  The Louet is a new loom of similar size but computer controlled so I never have to crawl around underneath her to tie up treadles because there aren't any treadles - just a single bar to push down.  I love them both but sometimes you just want a new one too.

We are dealers for Schacht Spindle Company and have many of their products in stock.  Peggy has a Schacht Standard floor loom and that seemed like what I wanted.  Having one of their looms in the studio should be a huge help when we have weavers looking for a loom.  So I ordered one.

The new loom arrived here on a Wednesday evening in the form of one very large 175 pound box.   Bless the FedEx driver who was willing to help us get it through the back door of the studio.

I spent the following three of four days getting the loom all put together.  I had to build the sectional back beam attaching it to the existing warp beam, add the treadle tie-up cords to the lamms, add 800 headles to the harness frames and attach the apron bar to the cloth beam.  No single step is difficult but taken together it takes a bit of time.

I had already decided what warp would go on this new loom.  We sold our last linen face cloth last month and I need to weave some more.  I already have the goats' milk soap ordered.   In the process of warping I discovered I have at least twice as much linen yarn, in various weights, than I thought I did.  Obviously, I just need to keep weaving linen.

There is always a learning curve when it comes to a new loom.  What does she sound like when she's happy?  What makes her cranky?  What bits and bobs do I need to pay close attention to?  Yes.  All these questions have answers and the faster you can find them the more calm and seamless the weaving experience will be.

It turns out that this new loom doesn't like extra tie-up cords flopping around under the lamms.  And she had sticky heddle frames that needed a quick spray of silicone.  Now she is humming right along!